This invention relates to band saws especially adapted for cutting meat, and more particularly to a removable scrap catcher enclosure for a meat saw for collecting and removing the scrap debris therefrom. Examples of prior art meat saws may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 149,203; 156,572; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,957, all assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The '957 patent is apparently the same saw as shown in the '203 design patent.
Many prior art meat saws have provisions for scraping the saw blade and collecting the debris and scraps produced during the meat cutting process. The '957 saw, for example, includes a removable scrap drawer for collecting and removing the meat scraps. This device also includes wheel scrapers and blade wipers, the latter being resin impregnated fabric or the like with beveled faces which are urged toward the band saw blade by torsion springs, for removing scrap debris from the saw blade. The blade wipers contact the saw blade along a line which is generally perpendicular to the path of travel of the saw blade. This orientation causes the debris removed from the blade to be deflected laterally from the blade, necessitating the addition of a sloping deflector surface to cause the material to fall into the scrap drawer rather than back onto the band saw blade or the wheel. Elsewhere in the meat saw, blade guides have beveled offset portions which scrap the sides of the blade and help remove the grease from the blade guide, to a location where it can be removed. Specific provision is also made for conducting debris collected in the saw head down through an integral trough to the drawer.
Unfortunately, not all of the debris is collected within the drawer, and the blade wipers are not able to follow deviations in the saw blade position in the plane of the blade during meat cutting. This may mean less than optimum performance; and the suggestion of a slave blade scraper for causing the edges of the blade wipers to follow the saw blade tooth gullets, as the blade moves when the meat is pressed against it, is lacking from this prior art. It is therefore desirable to make the debris collecting system more efficient not only because it will benefit the overall meat saw operation, but also because it will improve efficiency by requiring less operator attention during a day's work. In this context also, the meat saw should be designed so that cleaning and removal of the debris, in general, will be easy, quick and convenient, to minimize maintenance and down time, and maximize productivity.